ENB

on the side
A Special Report on Selected Side Events at the
Cancún Climate Change Conference
Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Online at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop16/enbots/
Issue #1 | Cancún Climate Change Conference | 29 November - 10 December 2010 | Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Events convened on Monday, 29 November 2010

The Missing Link to Success: Women in REDD+
Presented by Norway and Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural
Resource Management (WOCAN)
This event discussed the role of women in successful implementation of REDD+
initiatives. Noting that gender has been overlooked in global climate policymaking,
Audun Rosland, Norway, stressed that gender aspects must not be forgotten in the
design of REDD+.
Carole Saint-Laurent, IUCN, said despite the significant expansion in REDD+
initiatives there are major gaps in how policy is unfolding, particularly with respect
to women’s issues. She stated that immediate and long-term benefits can be
achieved by involving women in strategy, decision-making, the distribution of benefits,
and capacity building. Raja Jarrah, CARE International, emphasized that gender
mainstreaming is “just good development,” and that attaching gender mainstreaming
to REDD+ provides a good entry point to re-emphasize gender issues.
Manohara Khadka, Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management
Association (HIMWANTI) discussed gender equality and community access to forest
resources and benefits in Nepal. She emphasized that a persistent challenge is
elevating women from their traditional roles in using and managing forest resources to
having a voice in policy and decision-making.
Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Asian Indigenous Women’s Network, said traditional knowledge of
Jeannette Gurung, WOCAN, moderated the indigenous people must be protected and integrated into REDD+ policymaking. She
event.
highlighted the important role of indigenous women in forest management. Jeannette
Gurung, WOCAN, underscored the problem of women’s exclusion from global forest
policy, saying that many existing REDD+ funding mechanisms have not formally
recognized women as stakeholders.
Lorena Aguilar, IUCN, announced the launch of the Global Initiative on Women
More information: and REDD+. She said the Initiative aims to ensure that REDD+ efforts are more
http://www.wocan.org responsive to women and poverty alleviation at global and national levels. She said
the Initiative will mainstream gender into global REDD+ policy and work with national
Contacts: ministries.
Jeannette Gurung (Chair)
<jeannettegurung@wocan.org> Panelists discussed various issues related to integrating gender issues into REDD+
policymaking.
This issue of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin on the Side (ENBOTS) © <enb@iisd.org> is written and edited by Cherelle Jackson, Sikina Jinnah, Ph.D., and Liz
Willetts. The Digital Editor is Kate Harris. The Editor is Leonie Gordon <leonie@iisd.org> and the Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo”
Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>. The Sustaining Donors of the Bulletin are the United Kingdom (through the Department for International Development – DFID), the
Government of the United States of America (through the Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs), the
Government of Canada (through CIDA), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ),
the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European
Commission (DG-ENV), and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. General Support for the Bulletin during 2010 is provided by the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Australia, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the
Ministry of Environment of Sweden, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, SWAN International, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment
(FOEN), the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Ministry of Environment (through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies - IGES), the
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (through the Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute - GISPRI), the Government of Iceland,
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank. Funding for translation of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin into French has been
provided by the Government of France, the Belgium Walloon Region, the Province of Québec, and the International Organization of the Francophone (OIF and
IEPF). Funding for translation of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin into Spanish has been provided by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and
Marine Affairs. The opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD or other donors. Excerpts from
the Bulletin may be used in non-commercial publications with appropriate academic citation. For information on the Bulletin, including requests to provide
reporting services, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <kimo@iisd.org>, +1-646-536-7556 or 300 East 56th St., 11D, New York, New York 10022,
United States of America. The ENBOTS team at the Cancún Climate Change Conference can be contacted by e-mail at <sikina@iisd.org>.
Page 2 Cancún Climate Change Conference | ENB on the side | Tuesday, 30 November 2010 | Issue #1
A CDM Fit for the Future:
Why is CDM Reform Needed and How
Can Developing Countries Benefit?
Presented by the United Kingdom (UK)
This event discussed the evolution of the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) and how reform efforts could help increase low-income countries’
access to the CDM.

Sarah Love, UK, introduced the event, saying that reform is important
for efficiency, environmental integrity, and equal access to the CDM. She
pointed out that CDM reform was discussed under the Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). Pedro Martins Barata, CDM Executive Board, dis-
cussed progress on CDM reform.
Pedro Martins Barata, CDM Executive Board, said CDM reform is
important to improve issues related to accreditation, project registration,
certified emission reductions (CERs) and validation. He stressed the
need to address concerns related to additionality and offsetting. He noted
that UNFCCC COP14 negotiations left the CDM Executive Board with
“incomplete guidance” on reform, which delayed the Executive Board’s
activities. He concluded by summarizing the Executive Board’s recent
efforts to, inter alia: improve transparency; develop new standards
for accreditation; set new registration procedures; focus on top-down
methodologies; and enhance stakeholder engagement. He emphasized
that in order for the CDM to meet the two degree Celsius target, significant
up-scaling is necessary on additionality and baseline calculations.

Steven Gray, Carbon Markets and Investors Association, discussed the

industry perspective on standardized approaches. He said standardized
baselines will make the CDM more widespread and effective in the
short term, and will enable it to be scaled-up in the future. He stressed Steven Gray, Carbon Markets and Investors
the importance of defining baselines, and he differentiated between Association, said successful CDM projects
baselines, benchmarks and emission factors. He said a baseline should depend on standardized baselines.
include: a qualified description of the baseline; conservatively quantified
baseline emissions; and a positive list of technologies or activities that
are additional. He described that a number of sectors are suitable for
standardization, including: household biomass; off-grid renewable energy;
biodiesel; industry switching fossil fuel to biomass; and methane capture.
He cited China’s use of standardization baselines as a reason for its
successful CDM activities, but said that acquisition of emission factor data
can be a barrier to standardization in some countries.

Stefan Wehner, Perspectives GmbH, underscored existing problems

with the CDM including uneven geographic and sectoral distribution
of projects, and untapped mitigation potential in the building and
transportation sectors. He highlighted ways to standardize approaches,
including by extending the use of default factors and including a positive
list for additionality. He introduced a new pilot project entitled “Piloting
Greater Use of Standardized Approaches in the CDM,” which will aim to Stefan Wehner, Perspectives GmbH, highlighted
develop practical examples of performance standards and default factors bottlenecks in the CDM process, including high
that could be applied to the CDM. He emphasized the need to develop transaction costs for project developers.
these approaches in a way that is suited to national circumstances in the
implementing country.
More information:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk
Panelists discussed, inter alia: limitations of and finance for small-scale
projects; the potential use of international monetary standards; whether Contacts:
the CDM is “fit for the future”; and China’s future involvement in the CDM. Sarah Love (Chair) <s-love@dfid.gov.uk>